The Arabic Alphabet Reviews

While most courses in Egyptian Arabic teach the essentials of syntax, morphology, and vocabulary, this resource book takes the student a step beyond. Intended for the advanced learner of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic who has mastered the basics, this third in a series of three books (following Volume 1, Adjectives and Descriptions, and Volume 2, Proverbs) focuses on colorful expressions used by native speakers. The learner will advance from knowing how to form a good sentence to being able to express his or her thoughts about the ups and downs of daily life using culturally appropriate expressions. Definitions (including connotation) and explanations are given in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, and expressions taught in the book are used in many of the definitions, thus providing further reinforcement. Organized as a reference work, the book can also be used as a textbook, as it contains exercises.

This three-part course in Modern Standard Arabic for non-native speakers approaches the language through a series of themed topics—daily life in the Arab world, politics and governance, literature and the arts, science and medicine, astronomy—concentrates principally on listening and speaking skills. In each section, vocabulary is built up as various linguistic structures and strategies are introduced and practiced in a clear introduction to Arabic grammar. A CD accompanies Volume 1, and a supplementary dictionary, al-Mu‘jam al-musa‘id, gives a complete key to the vocabulary of all three books in four languages: English, French, German, and Spanish. Comprehensive and easily digestible, varied and informative, these books make an ideal basis for a classroom-based course in Arabic anywhere in the world.